Year 4: From Beaches to Britain
by stiles622
Summary: Barely a crossover, everything about it is Harry Potter with the cross-over that one of the characters is an earth bender. It's an OC-in-the-story story and starts in Year 3. This is the sequel (has a summary of Year 3 at beginning). Fred/OC
1. Chapter 1: The Riddle House

I OWN NOTHING BUT THE BATASKILLS

Sequel to Christina Bataskill's 3rd Year at Hogwarts: Recap for those who didn't read it:

Lily and James Potter and only son Harry Potter, good friends with Nancy and Greg Bataskill and two kids Spencer and Christina Bataskill. On the night Lord Voldemort attacked The Potters Nancy and Greg had already been killed a week earlier. They being members of the Order were doomed to die the minute they joined. The Potters took Christina and Spencer in, the night of the attack Spencer, 4 years old, was at a friends house, Christina and Harry both playing upstairs. Voldemort killed James and then ran upstairs to get Lily and Harry. He killed Lily but when he went to attack Harry his spell hit Harry square in the forehead, as well as in Christina's hand. A lightning bolt scar now adorns Harry's forehead as well as Christina's right hand. The spell rebounded from the two of them and ended Voldemort.

After this Dumbledore, Hagrid, and McGonagall gave Harry to his Aunt and Uncle, and Christina went with an adoptive family in America. Dumbledore was sure he wanted to split the two of them up, and Spencer went to another adoptive home in Britain. After 11 years Harry Potter got his Hogwarts acceptance letter and Christina Bataskill remained in the States for two more years. After the events that take place after Harry's first and second year (Voldemort attempting to kill him, as well as Tom Riddle's Diary and a basilisk) Dumbledore realized how lonely Harry must feel being a target and having so much weight on his shoulders. So, he decided to bring Christina to Hogwarts.

An August afternoon Dumbledore, McGonagall, Harry, Hermione, Ron, Fred, George, Ginny, and Hagrid all appear on a beach in sunny California to find Christina. She's there with her adopted mother and brother and Dumbledore goes ahead and produces a muffilato charm as well petrificus totalus on both her adoptive mother and brother. She was very confused at first but understood later and realized she had made things happen before that couldn't be explained. Dumbledore explained that he could place a double in her place in America as to not alarm her adopted family. She agreed and went off with the lot to Diagon Alley. Off the bat she became very close with Harry and Fred. She loved to joke around with Fred so they got along swimmingly and Harry and she had so much in common that it was impossible to not like him. Hermione and George came next and then Ron and Ginny. Christina got to stay at the Burrow with the Weasleys and Harry and Hermione for the next week before Hogwarts school began. She got all of her school supplies with them as well. Her pet being a dyed-blue Owl that Fred accidentally dyed a big orange spot on it's wing. Next stop, Hogwarts.

The school year was quite interesting, Sirius Black a, then thought to be, mass murderer that turned out to be Harry's godfather. Meanwhile Christina found out that Remus Lupin was her godfather and became very close with him. Upon arriving at Hogwarts she noticed that no other students shared a certain power that she did. After talking to Dumbledore about it, she found out that she possesses "Natural Power" a manipulation of the elements basically. The only other known wizard or witch to possess this power was Voldemort himself. He possessed the power of the wind, which is why he can fly with no broom and is extremely powerful. Christina could possess the power of the earth, so she could move dirt, gravel, metal, and sand. The only people that knew about this were Harry, Ron, Hermione, the Weasley twins, and most of the teachers. She felt quite weird about her natural power, like an outsider.

Christina was sorted into Gryffindor House after an argument with the sorting hat about being placed in Syltherin, and also made the Quidditch Team. The team consisted of Oliver Wood-Keeper, Harry Potter-Seeker, Fred Weasley and George Weasley-Beaters, Angelina Johnson, Katie Bell, and Christina Bataskill-Chasers. Throughout the year she found it very difficult to keep up with the third years, and found solace in Fred Weasley and his antics. They started dating in February after a party in the Room of Requirement Fred and George put on. At the end of the school year the quad went down to go see off Hagrid's most recent pet Buckbeak but were sidetracked when Ron's rat ran away and Ron got taken down into the Shrieking Shack by a big black dog. The three of them pursued Ron and the dog and found Sirius Black in the Shack, a bloodied Ron and a few seconds later Remus Lupin who immediately hexed Christina which attached her arms and ankles against the wall behind her and two red rings around her wrists. She tried to use her natural power but because of Lupin's hex it didn't work. As Lupin explained to the group about Sirius being innocent, Ron's rat being a mass murdering Animagus Peter Pettigrew, Snape walked in, ready to bound Sirius. Fortunately Harry shut him up and cursed him unconscious. After we got Pettigrew and Lupin removed the charm from her wrists they headed out of the Shack ready to show Dumbledore the truth when professor Lupin transformed into a werewolf and attempted to attack the group. Christina sent massive boulders his way but he just fought them off. Pettigrew got away and Harry ran after Sirius while Hermione, Ron, and Christina stayed back because of Snape. They went back to the castle and got our wounds checked out and just as the clock stroke midnight Dumbledore came in and they tried to explain everything that happened and he instead asked Hermione to use her time-turner to fix things. And they did just that, saved Buckbeak, saved Sirius, Harry performed a Patronus charm so big he shooed off over 100 dementors. Although Pettigrew still got away, and Sirius will never be a free man because of it.

Chapter 1 The Riddle House

Tossing in her sleep again. No surprises there. She had been staying up late most nights this summer to try and counteract the bad dreams. Maybe if she was so exhausted her brain could do nothing but sleep, however this didn't always work. She awoke in her Finsbury Park, London flat with a jolt from a dream about Lupin as a werewolf, trying to attack her. This was a reoccurring dream and she hated it every time. She looked at her phone and saw that it was 6:23am, just another 7 minutes until her alarm clock went off...great. She got up and brushed her teeth, went to the bathroom, and got dressed and ready for work. This summer she'd be away from the muggles and off in London where she could be as close to Hogwarts as possible. Every now and then she would see Cedric Diggory at Hogwarts whenever she'd visit. He was the only person not in Gryffindor that knew about her natural power. He was working at Hogwarts that summer doing any work he could to get paid, trying to look like a better candidate for jobs in his upcoming year. Together they'd joke around, share a cigarette on top of the astronomy tower, help around etc. It was fun hanging out with Ced, but she would be heading back to Hogwarts full time soon, for it was only a few more weeks till September 1st.

Still dating Fred Weasley she would frequently fly to the Burrow to hang out with him or to bring him to London to hang out with her. Since she could fly with her natural power (on a levitating boulder, levitating mud-cakes under her shoes, or just simply by turning her entire body into dust and riding in the wind) it wasn't breaking any school rules, definitely one of the perks to being a freak. She had been invited by Fred Weasley to join his family and Harry to the Quidditch World Cup this summer and she agreed with no hesitation. She loved everything magic, and especially since she was a member of the Quidditch Team this would be the perfect opportunity for her.

Two nights before the Quidditch World Cup she had another awful nightmare. An ancient house upon a hill sat with thousands of vines covering the entire building. All lights off and pitch black outside an old man watched the house suspiciously. He had worked at that house for many years, it was clear, and noticed some strange activity going on. He walked to the house with a walking stick assuming young boys had started a fire in the attic. He entered the house confidently and as he creaked his way upstairs he heard adult men talking. He listened further to hear such names as Wormtail, my Lord, and Nagini. Names that were quite unfamiliar to Frank Bryce, but something stuck out in his mind. There was a contemplation as whether to get Christina or Harry...he didn't understand. They argued over how well protected they both were but the "Lord" had a plan that would get them in a few months...get who? Frank, now coated in sweat, thought about running to the police. There was a man in here with a voice as cold as ice, and a murderer too. But before Frank could move he heard hissing and then a massive snake pass by him on the staircase. He was paralyzed with fear, and then to make matters worse the cold voice spoke about him to "Wormtail". "there is an old Muggle standing right outside this room, listening to every word we say. Invite him in...where are your manners". And just like that, he entered the room to see the back of an arm chair in front of a fireplace and a another man that had tuffs of hair and was pale. "You heard everything Muggle? said the cold voice. "What's the you're calling me? "I am calling you a Muggle, it means that you are not a wizard" it said again. "I don't know what you mean by wizard, all I know is I've heard enough to interest the police tonight, I have. You've done murder and you're planning more! And I'll tell you this too, my wife knows I'm up here, and if I don't come back-" "You have no wife" it said nastily, "Nobody knows you are here. You told nobody that you were coming. Do not like to Lord Voldemort, Muggle, for he knows...he always knows..."

"Is that right? Lord, is it? Well, I don't think much of your manners, My Lord. Turn 'round and face me like a man, why don't you?" he said now more defiantly than ever. "But I am not a man, Muggle, I am much more than a man. However...why not? I will face you... Wormtail, come turn my chair around." Now the servant was getting scared, but the cold voice pressed on. "You heard me, Wormtail." As the man turned the chair around Frank saw just what was speaking and let his walking stick fall to the floor as he screamed in fear as Voldemort cursed him into damnation. A flash of green light later and Christina herself screamed as she awoke.


	2. Chapter 2: Back to the Burrow

Christina was panting and covered in sweat. What on earth just happened? She had never had such a vivid dream before and never with people she hadn't seen before. She always had nightmares about Lupin, or dementors but never an old man with a walking stick... But just as she let her mind wander the dream slowly slipped from her mind as did the burning sensation on her lightning bolt scar on her hand. Today was going to be a great day for she was heading to Harry's house in Surrey to go with the Weasleys to the burrow.

She was already all packed to go out of excitement, all her cauldrons, parchments, spell books, cloaks, and of course her wand was all packed up and ready to be flown to Surrey. Tulip, Christina's oddly blue owl was already at Harry's, most likely driving Hedwig insane. Tulip was a much more...rambunctious bird. Loved to play and also loved to bite. She hoped Harry was doing well.

As she dragged her trunk down the elevator from her flat she got into an alley way where no one could see her, and dissipated along with her trunk into little flecks of dirt and flew through the sky to Surrey. The trip couldn't have taken longer, she left the flat around 12pm and didn't get to Harry's till 4:30pm. She rapped on the door three times with her trunk and Petunia Dursley opened the door with a grimace on her face. Christina just smiled, "Is Harry-" "Upstairs" she said coldly back. Christina's smile fell and went upstairs, leaving her trunk next to the door. Not knowing which door to open, Christina called out "Harry? It's Christina!" immediately Harry flung open the door at the end of the hall-way and let out a "Thank God!" before embracing her. Harry had been waiting all day for someone to relieve him from his extended family.

"They seem nice." she joked. Harry laughed and sat on the floor moving back a bit of carpet. "Yeah well, that was 10 seconds of it, imagine 11 years", Christina shrugged and Harry lifted a board from the floor that revealed several decadent cakes and sweets. "Dursleys have me on this awful diet because my cousin is overweight...I've thought of a better solution. Want any?" Christina sat on the floor across from Harry and laughed, "You know Harry Potter, needs to lose a couple stones..." she joked and then grabbed a slice of yellow cake.

"When are the Weasleys supposed to get here?" Christina asked while inhaling her cake. "According to a letter they sent me, " Harry tossed her an envelope that was covered in stamps addressed to Harry "5 o'clock today." "Oh, so, soon! Nice, I got here just in time then. I can only imagine what your Aunt and Uncle will say to the way they look." Harry shivered in disgust and suggested that the two of them go downstairs to wait for the Weasleys. The Dursleys were in the living room as well waiting intensely. The pillows were all fluffed to perfection and all the Dursleys seemed to be wearing their finest clothes. As the two students waited for their rescue, Uncle Vernon was reading the paper and Dudley was waiting in silence with his hands underneath him. It was an odd scene indeed. The two decided to excuse themselves to the hallway so that they could snicker and talk about the ridiculousness of it all, but as the living room clock chimed 5 o'clock no one had arrived yet. Another 15 minutes had gone by of the two waiting patiently on the stairs and yet it seemed as though the Weasleys had forgotten them...

"They're late!" Uncle Vernon yelled. Harry feeling incredibly worried just said "I know, maybe -er- the traffic's bad, or something." Christina bewildered by this response whispered in Harry's ear, "I thought they didn't have a car? Is that how they're getting here?" Harry shrugged and they continued to wait. Another 15 minutes went by and the anger that Petunia and Vernon already had for the wizarding family was now only growing worse. "No consideration at all." "We might've had an engagement." "Maybe they think they'll get invited to dinner if they're late." "Well, they most certainly won't be, they'll take the boy and girl and go! There'll be no hanging around. That's if they're coming at all. Probably mistaken the day. I daresay their _kind _don't set much store by punctuality. Either that or they drive some tin-pot car that's broken d-AAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRGH!"

Harry and Christina jumped up from the stairs and into the living room to see that the Dursleys were now running amok around the living room although nothing seemed to be wrong. Then suddenly, a noise came out from the boarded up fireplace, "Ouch! Fred, no- go back, there's been some kind of mistake - tell George not to - OUCH! George, no, there's no room, go back quickly and tell Ron-" "Maybe they can hear us, Dad - maybe they'll be able to let us out" then Christina called out while there was banging on the fireplace planks "Fred? Is that you?" "Christina? Harry? Can you hear us?" Then the Dursleys stepped in. "What is this? What's going on?" Uncle Vernon snarled. Harry attempted to explain to them, "They - they've tried to get here by Floo powder, they can travel by fire - only you've blocked the fireplace - hang on-" Harry and Christina walked up to the fireplace and while Christina attempted to wriggled the boards loose Harry called out "Mr. Weasley? Can you hear me? Mr. Weasley it's Harry...the fireplace has been blocked up. You won't be able to get through there" there were shushes while Harry was speaking and then Mr. Weasley called out, "Damn! What on earth did they want to block up the fireplace for?" Harry sighed and tried to explain, " They've got an electric fire-" "Really! Eclectic, you say? With a plug? Gracious, I must see that... Let's thing... ouch, Ron!" Christina called out again, "Ron?" "What are we doing here? Has something gone wrong?" Ron asked as he was now taking up more room in the tiny fireplace.

"Oh no, Ron," said Fred sarcastically. "No, this is exactly where we wanted to end up." George jumped in "Yeah, we're having the time of our lives here." Mr. Weasley tried to call everyone down and then ordered for Harry and Christina to step back. Christina didn't hear at first but Harry grabbed her by her sleeve and pulled her back as the fireplace exploded and out came four Weasley boys clouded with ash and rubble. Christina looked around to see the pristine living room in complete disarray. Petunia looked as red as a tomato and Vernon was more shocked than anything else.

"That's better" exhaled Mr. Weasley getting up while attempting to clean off the dirt from his robes. He extended a hand to Vernon and Petunia "Ah - you must be Harry's aunt and uncle!" Disgusted, Vernon back away with Petunia on his arm and took one look at his best suit, now covered in soot. "Er - yes - sorry about that," Mr. Weasley said awkwardly, "It's all my fault. It just didn't occur to me that we wouldn't be able to get out at the other end. I had your fireplace connected to the Floo Network, you see - just for an afternoon, you know, so we could get these two. Muggle fireplaces aren't supposed to be connected, strictly speaking - but I've got a useful contact at the Floo Regulation Panel and he fixed it for me. I can put it right in a jiffy, though, don't worry. I'll light a fire to send the kids back, and then I can repair your fireplace before I disapparate."

It was as though Mr. Weasley was speaking gibberish. Then out from the fireplace came Mrs. Weasley all ready to get out trunks. "Hello, dears! Fred, be a dear and get Christina's trunk. Harry, got your trunk ready?" "It's upstairs" Harry said and George then ran upstairs and got Harry's trunk while Fred picked up Christina's. They would have embraced had there not been the awkward situation around them. Instead, she just smiled at Fred while he took the trunk to the fireplace. While George was getting Harry's trunk Mr. Weasley was attempting to make conversation about electricity to the Dursleys. He pointed to the television "They run off eckeltricity, do they? Ah yes, I can see the plugs. I collect plugs, and batteries. Got a very large collection of batteries. My wife thinks I'm mad, but there you are!" Vernon's face could not turn any more purple if it tried, he would've strangled Mr. Weasley on the spot had George not started dragging Harry trunk down the stairs.

The noise from the stairs startled Dudley, who was no doubt eating in the kitchen. He ran out and attempted to hide behind Mr. Dursley and caught the attention of Mr. Weasley in the process. "Ah, this is your cousin, is it, Harry?" Harry agreed and took his trunk from George. "Yep, that's Dudley." Mr. Weasley again, tried to make conversation with Dudley while Harry, Ron, and Christina attempted to contain their laughter. As the awkwardness escalated Mr. Weasley gave up and turned to leave. "Incendio!" he shouted as he pointed his wand at the fireplace, and out came flames. He thrust a handful of Floo powder at the fireplace and instructed Fred to go in, but in the process tripped and dropped several candies on the floor. He let them lie though, and left with Christina's trunk. Next was George with Harry's trunk then Ron, all ending with them saying, clearly, "the Burrow!" Christina was next to jump in the fire, she never got used to the sensation but wanted to be out of the Dursleys sooner rather than later and was off. A dizzying sensation and a blinding green light later, Christina exited the fireplace to the Weasley's kitchen.


	3. Chapter 3: The Burrow

As Christina jumped out of the fireplace Fred was the first one to grab her into a bear-hug. "Ah, I've missed you! What's it been?" He said holding her. He couldn't help but notice her hair smelled of soap and honey, "2 weeks! I-" and out of the fireplace came Harry, eyes closed and hands out.

"Did he eat it? Fred called out letting Christina go. "Yeah, what was it?" Harry said stepping out of the fireplace. "Ton-Tongue Toffee. George and I invented them, and we've been looking all summer for someone to test them on..." Everyone broke out in laughter and Christina sat wrapped an arm around Fred. A week had past since their 6-month anniversary. They didn't celebrate month-a-versairies but Christina liked to keep a mental note.

At the wooden table at the center of the kitchen were two more ginger haired boys, who Christina deduced were Bill and Charlie Weasley. Charlie said hello to both Harry and Christina and Christina couldn't help but look impressed by the two boys. Charlie looked like the rough and tumble dragon expert that Ron said he was but Bill looked like he just walked out of a nightclub, long hair, earring, and all.

Christina and Harry shook both of their hands but before they could chat, Mr. Weasley apparated next to George looking furious. "That wasn't funny Fred! What on earth did you give that Muggle boy?" Fred smirked and Christina pinched his side, warning him to be nice. "I didn't give him anything! It just dropped out of my pocket... It was his fault he went and ate it, I never told him to!" Mr. Weasley puffed out an angry breath. "You dropped it on purpose! You knew he'd eat it, you knew he was in a diet!"

"How big did his tongue get?" George asked with a wicked grin on his face. Christina covered her smile by looking away from Mr. Weasley. "It was about four feet long before his parents would let me shrink it!" At this point the laughter could no longer be contained and everyone bellowed out, but Mr. Weasley shouted back, "It isn't funny! That sort of behavior seriously undermines wizard-Muggle relations! I spend half my life campaigning against the mistreatment of Muggles, and my own sons-" "We didn't give it to him because he's a Muggle!" Fred shouted back. George joined him, "No, we gave it to him because he's a great bullying git, isn't he Harry?" Harry too thought this matter wasn't serious. "Yeah, he is, Mr. Weasley." But Mr. Wasley was still outraged. "That's not the point! You wait until I tell your mother-"

"Tell me what?" Mrs. Weasley's oice came from the other room. She walked in with her arms on her waist. "Oh hell Harry dear, I see our two turtle doves have reunited" she said referred to Fred and Christina who had their arms around each other's waists. But then she turned coolly to Mr. Weasley. "Tell me what, Arthur?" she stated. Mr. Weasley tried to play it off, "It's nothing Molly, Fred and George just - but I've had words with them-" "What have they done this time? If it's got anything to do with Weasley's Wizard Wheezes-" Christina turned to Fred in astonishment and mumbled "You did it?" under her breath. Christina remembered the name Weasley's Wizard Wheezes from Fred's excited face last year. He was obsessed with the idea of started of joke shop. She wasn't in love with the idea of him skipping out on his classes but if it was what made him happy, who was she to stop him?

"Why don't you show Harry where he's sleeping, Ron? Ginny and I can show Christina hers" Hermione said from the doorway. But Ron didn't take the hint, "He knows where he's sleeping, in my room, he slept there last-" "We can all go," Hermione said glaring at Ron. Christina squeezed Fred's side and walked toward the trio. "Oh, right." said Ron catching Hermione's point. "Yeah, we'll come too," George said but Mrs. Weasley stepped in front of George. "You stay where you are!" The rest of them got out of the kitchen and went upstairs.

Up past the creaky staircase that looked like one wrong step and you'd be sent down four stories, the five of them reached the bedrooms. On the way Harry asked aloud, "What are Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes?" Everyone laughed in response except Hermione, Christina was the first to respond "It's a joke shop basically, they've wanted to sell their little inventions for a while now. I'm just surprised they finally started making things and not just pricing them..." again, laughter. "Mum foudnt this stack of order forms when she was cleaning Fred and George's room, great long price lists for stuff they've invented. Joke stuff, you know. Fake wants and trick sweets, loads of stuff. It was brilliant, I never knew they'd been inventing all that..." Ginny added on. "We've been hearing explosions out of their room for ages, but we never thought they were actually making things, we thought they just liked the noise." As they reached the top floor landing Ron spoke up, "Only, most of the stuff - well, all of it, really - was a bit dangerous, and, you know, they were planning to sell it at Hogwarts to make some money, and Mum went mad at them. Told them they weren't allowed to make any more of it, and burned all the order forms..." Christina was taken aback by this. She had spent many nights at the Burrow this summer and Fred had never mentioned that... "That's awful" she murmured. "She's furious at them anyway. They didn't get as many O.W.L.s as she expected.

Now that Christina was not surprised at, throughout last spring Fred had barely even studied for his O.W.L.s and considered them a joke anyways. "And then there was this big row," Ginny said, "because Mum wants them to go into the Ministry of Magic like Dad, and they told her all they want to do is open a joke shop." Christina guffawed. "They couldn't have honestly thought Fred and George would do well in a Ministry job..." Percy's bedroom door opened quite quickly and he stared pointedly at both Ron and Ginny.

"Hi, Percy." said Harry. Percy distractedly said hello to Harry. "I was wondering who was making all the noise. I'm trying to work in here, you know I've got a report to finish for the office - and it's rather difficult to concentrate when people keep thundering up and down the stairs." Ginny opened her mouth but it was Ron who commented first, "We're not thundering, we're walking. Sorry if we've disturbed the top-secret workings of the Ministry of Magic." "What are you working on, Percy?" Christina said as politely as possible as to not upset him further. " A report for the Department of International Magical Cooperation, we're trying to standardize cauldron thickness. Some of these foreign imports are just a shade too thin - leakages have been increasing at a rate of almost three percent a year-"

"That'll change the world, that report will. Front page of the Daily Prophet, I expect, cauldron leaks." said Ron irritably. Percy fumed at this, "You might sneer, Ron, but unless some sort of international law is imposed we might well find the market flooded with flimsy, shallow-bottomed products that seriously endanger-" "Yeah, yeah, all right" Ron interrupted. And with that Percy shut his bedroom door shut and everyone entered Ron's room as screams from Mrs. Weasley could still be heard.

Ron's room was covered in Quidditch posters and instead of his animagus-rat, a new tiny owl named Pigwidgeon was next to his bed in a large cage. Despite it being the attic, Ron told the group that Ron, Harry, Fred and George would be sleeping in there so that Bill and Charlie can stay in a room together and Percy was to have his own room, for Ministry business. "So I guess Percy likes his work then..." Christina said slowly. "Likes it? I don't reckon he'd come home if Dad didn't make him. He's obsessed. Just don't get him onto the subject of his boss. According to Mr. Crouch ... as I was saying to Mr. Crouch ... Mr. Crouch is of the opinion ... Mr. Crouch was telling me ... They'll be announcing their engagement any day now." They laughed and talked about their summers. Harry had been doing okay, with the help of food packages from Hermione, Christina and Ron he had just about survived. Christina had been keeping in touch with Lupin for the entire summer, since he was her godfather and only actual family she knew about, she wanted to keep this relationship alive. Since Ginny was in the room they decided it be best not to talk about Sirius considering the only people who knew of his escape were Dumbledore and the four of them.

"I think they've stopped arguing...shall we go down and help your mum with dinner? Hermione asked. Ron agreed for the group and they all headed back down to the kitchen. Mrs. Weasley was furiously making dinner, potatoes bouncing off the walls, Bill and Charlie setting up a table in the garden while she shoved knives and forks in Ron and Harry's hands, plates into Ginny and Hermione's, and glasses in Christina's. Mrs. Weasley was still fuming about Fred and George. "Those two! I don't know what's going to happen to them, I really don't. No ambition, unless you count making as much trouble as they possibly can...It's not as though they haven't got brains, but they're wasting them, and unless they pull themselves together soon, they'll be in real trouble. I've had more owls from Hogwarts about them than the rest put together. If they carry on the way they're going, they'll end up in front of the Improper Use of Magic Office! I don't know where we went wrong with them, it's been the same for years, one thing after another, and they won't listen to -OH NOT AGAIN!" saucepans were flying around and Christina just stood there in awe, Mrs. Weasley had picked up a wand from the table that sent a rubber mouse out of its tip.

"One of their fake wands again! How many times have I told them not to leave them lying around?" Christina wanted to say several things, how she hadn't gone wrong with Fred and George, that they have ambition, but she didn't want to upset her further and just finished pouring water into the glasses and levitated the eleven glasses outside. Outside she saw Bill and Charlie levitating two tables and smashing them against one another, Fred, George, Ron, Ginny, and Harry were cheering and rooting for which table to win while Hermione was bewildered. Just as Christina joined in on the fun Bill smacked a leg off of Charlie's table and Percy yelled from his window for everyone to keep it down."Sorry, Perce. How're the cauldron bottoms coming on? Bill said smirking. "Very badly" Percy said quietly and then retreated back to his room.

Dinner, for someone who spent most of the summer on take out chicken and tacos, was perfect for Christina. She sat in between Harry and Fred and listened to the different conversations around her. Percy was going on again to Mr. Weasley about cauldron bottom thickness and then a name popped up that gave Christina a chill. Bertha Jorkins. She turned to Harry and Hermione and asked where she had heard that name before. Harry too looked quite shocked. "I had a dream about her I think..." said Harry. "I've been having some funky dreams lately...man in an attic killed by Voldemort-" "What did you just say?" Harry said quickly. "What? I dreamed about Voldemort, he killed this guy with a walking stick in an old house" Christina said slowly, Fred listened in, this was the first time he had heard about this dream. "Was there a python on the staircase?" Harry asked. Now Christina was started to get scared, there was a python on the staircase. How could Harry know that? Did they have the same dream? "And my scar hurt when I woke up" Harry was now gaping at Christina. "We had the same dream" Harry said, "What does that mean?" "Something to do with Voldemort" Both Harry and Christina looked down at their plates and began eating again. Whatever the dreams meant, they certainly didn't want to deal with it right now at this dinner table of friends.

While eating Christina overheard Mrs. Weasley chastising Bill for his outlandish appearance and questioned how on earth the bank could accept this appearance. But the other Weasley boys were in deep conversation about the Quidditch World Cup and as to which team would win, Ireland or Bulgaria. Christina agreed with Charlie that Ireland would win, she didn't personally care for Victor Krum, she didn't actually care for the seeker position all together. She thought it requires more skill to be a chaser or a keeper than a seeker, and that it was unfair that a seeker basically seals the deal for a win. Though, she'd never say this to Harry of course.

As dinner waned on the gnomes in the garden got more and more anxious with Crookshanks running around and once people were so enveloped in their conversations, Hermione, Christina, and Ron asked Harry as to the condition of his godfather, Sirius Black. "So - have you heard from Sirius lately?" Ron asked quietly. " Yeah, twice. He sounds okay. I wrote to him yesterday. He might write back while I'm here" Harry said, equally quiet. Just then Mrs. Weasley stood up and shooed everyone off to bed. "Look at the time, you really should be in bed, the whole lot of you you'll be up at the crack of dawn to get to the Cup. Harry, Christina, if you leave your school list out, I'll get your things for you tomorrow in Diagon Alley. I'm getting everyone else's. There might not be time after the World Cup, the match went on for five days last time." Mrs. Weasley said as she cleaned up the table.

"Wow - hoe it does this time!" Harry said excitedly. "Well, I certainly don't, I shudder to think what the state of my in-tray would be if I was away from work for five days" Percy said snootily. "Yeah someone might slip dragon dung in it again, eh, Perce?" joked Fred. "That was a sample of fertilizer from Norway!" shouted Percy, "It was nothing personal!"

"It was" Fred whispered to Christina and Harry. "We sent it."


	4. Chapter 4: The Road to the Cup

Christina was heading upstairs talking to Harry and Ron when Fred took her wrist from behind and stopped her from continuing. Ron and Harry stopped to see why she did but then saw Fred and continued on, Ron rolling his eyes. "Did you really think you were going to bed without saying goodnight?" he teased. She could hear Ron from upstairs gag and heard Harry laugh quietly. "So sorry, didn't know when would be a good time between an exploded living room and your mother screaming at you" she teased. Fred, still holding her hand, placing it on his cheek and leaned down to kiss her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back. It had been weeks since she had seen Fred and there was no denying there deep admiration for one another, however, neither had said "love" to either. Perhaps because of fear of rejection, but there was a time back in June when she thought he was about to tell her...but his eyes went blank and he told her a joke instead. With the two month holiday break apart she knew she still was very much in admiration with him, she wondered if he felt the same.

Just then a burst of confetti hit the back of Christina's head and she whipped around and saw George with a bazooka. "Congrats you're back together! Now quit snogging on the staircase!" and then immediately following "FRED, GEORGE IF YOU WOULD, PLEASE!" from Percy's room. Christina leaned back into Fred's chest and he wrapped his arms around her. "Happy to be home?" he whispered in her ear. She giggled and jumped up the staircase, went into her room of girls, and quickly fell asleep.

The shrill voice of Mrs. Weasley woke her up almost instantly, as though she had been asleep for minutes instead of hours. Hermione was already awake and drinking tea while Ginny still laid in bed, mouth agape, with drool on her cheek and pillow. "Ginny, please! The boys are already downstairs" Ginny rolled around in her bed and Hermione ripped back her blankets. Christina got up and dressed and followed Hermione downstairs, Ginny trailing in pajamas behind. "Why do we have to be up so early?" Ginny said groggily. The three girls sat at the table, helping themselves to some porridge.

"We've got a bit of a walk" said Mr. Weasley. This came as a surprise to Christina who assumed the World Cup would not be in walking distance...

"Walk? What, are we walking to the World Cup?" said Harry. "No, no, that's kilometers away, we only need to walk a short way. It's just that it's very difficult for a large number of wizards to congregate without attracting Muggle attention. We have to be very careful about how we travel at the best of times, and on a huge occasion like the Quidditch World Cup..." Mr. Weasley trailed off when Mrs. Weasley was spotted eyeing George's pocket.

"George!" "What?" George said with fake innocence. "What is that in your pocket?" fooling no one, "Nothing!" "Don't you lie to me! Accio!" she shouted pointing her wand at George's pocket. Out came many small objects Christina deduced to be more Weasley Wizard Wheezes products. George attempted to catch them before Mrs. Weasley confiscated them. "We told you to destroy them!" she said angrily while holding up more joke products. "We told you to get rid of the lot! Empty your pockets, go on, both of you!" The thought crossed Christina's mind to turn the products in his pocket into dirt, just to have them go back to normal once they were out of Mrs. Weasley's sight but she figured she already noticed that his pockets were bursting with gags. After many summoning charms, Mrs. Weasley emptied the twins of all of their products and the twins couldn't have been more frustrated.

"We spent six months developing those!" Fred called out as she tossed them in the bin. "Oh a fine way to spend six months! No wonder you didn't get more O.W.L.s!" she shrieked back. The twins let the matter go and left the house without saying another word to their mother. Fred grabbed Christina's hand and she could tell he was much more upset than he was letting on. And then he and George trudged on while Christina waited for everyone else. As everyone said goodbye, they caught up to Fred and George. Harry was talking to Mr. Weasley for most of the walk up, he was confused as to how thousands of wizards can get by without any Muggles noticing. Apparently it's a lot more work than Christina thought, the Ministry has to find a place big enough to accommodate not only the event but everyone's lodging and then the amount of Muggle precautions set up would dizzy anyone attempting to list them. Mr. Weasley got very good tickets for the World Cup so they didn't have to show up weeks in advance like the lower priced ticket holders did, instead they showed up only a day early and got to go by portkey.

"What sort of objects are Portkeys?" asked Christina. "Well, they can be anything. Unobstrusive things, obisouly, so Muggles don't go picking them up and playing with them...stuff they'll just think is litter..." Christina nodded and continued on walking. It was still very dark outside and just a glint of the sunrise could be seen. She rested her head on Fred's shoulder as they walked hand in hand to the Portkey at the top of Stoatshead Hill.

"Whew, well we've made good time - we've got ten minutes" Mr. Weasley said as they reached the top of the hill. Hermione was in stitches after the hike, and Harry gasped for air when Mr. Weasley asked for the group to search for the Portkey. It had only been minutes when a man called out to Mr. Weasley, "Over here, Arthur! Over here, son, we've got it." In the darkness were two tall figures waving to the group from nearby.

"Amos!" Mr. Weasley grasped his hand and shook it firmly. "This is Amos Diggory, everyone, he works for the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. And I think you know his son, Cedric?" Christina turned when she heard 'Diggory' and jumped from Fred to Cedric grabbing him in a death like grip. "Cedric! What're you doing here?" Christina breathed out. "For the Cup of course, I didn't know you were coming!" Cedric replied. "Hi everyone." Everyone said hi back except for Fred and George who were not only upset that Hufflepuff beat Gryffindor in Quidditch once, but also because Cedric was one of Christina's closest friends. Fred didn't consider himself ugly, but compared to Hufflepuff prefect, captain and seeker of the Hufflepuff Quidditch Team, pretty boy Diggory he did feel a twang of jealousy every time he saw them together. Christina didn't notice.

"Long walk, Arthur?" asked Mr. Diggory. "Not too bad, we live just on the other side of the village there. You?" "Had to get up at two, didn't we, Ced? I tell you, I'll be glad when he's got his Apparition test. Still ... not complaining ... Quidditch World Cup, wouldn't miss it for a sackful of Galleons - and the tickets cost about that. Mind you, looks like I got off easy..." he said as he surveyed the group of kids Mr. Weasley paid for. "All these yours, Arthur?"

"Oh no, only the redheads, this is Hermione, friend of Ron's - and Harry, another friend-"

"Merlin's beard, Harry? Harry Potter? But then you must be Christina Bataskill!" Mr. Diggory exclaimed as Cedric put his head in his hands, embarrassed by his father. Both Christina and Harry awkwardly waved, "Hello." "Hiya."

"Ced's talked about _you, _of course," he looked directly at Christina, Cedric then put a hand on his Dad's shoulder "Dad, please" but he continued "Told us all about playing against you two last year...I said to him, I said - Ced, that'll be something to tell your grandchildren, that will...You beat Harry Potter and Christina Bataskill!" Christina could feel the tension in the air and imagined the grimace on both Fred and George faces at the fact that they too were in the match.

"Harry fell off his broom, Dad...I told you...it was an accident" Cedric said, still clearly embarrassed. "Yes, but you didn't fall off, did you? And neither did she! Always modest, our Ced, always the gentleman...but the best man won, I'm sure Harry'd say the same, wouldn't you, eh? One falls off his broom, one stays on, you don't need to be a genius to tell which one's the better flier!"

"Must be nearly time, do you know whether we're waiting for any more, Amos?" Mr. Weasley said clearing the the air of the awkwardness. Amos snapped out of his glorification and responded "No, the Lovegoods have been there for a week already and the Fawcetts couldn't get tickets. There aren't any more of us in this area, are there?"

"Not that I know of. Yes, it's a minute off...we'd better get ready" Mr. Weasley said as he got on the ground. "You just need to touch the Portkey, that's all, a finger will do-" then all ten of them were on the ground around an old boot, cramming next to each other. With an eye on his watch Mr. Weasley counted down..."Three...Two...One..." and then as if pulled into another dimension they were off. It was as though someone had sucked them into a black hole and then out of nowhere they all fell to the ground hard except for Mr. Diggory, Mr. Weasley, and Cedric who were on their feet ready go.

"Remind me to give him some ton-tongue toffee please" Fred said bitterly. Christina laughed and grabbed his arm and they set off to a sea of tents, and two men dressed in ridiculous attire.


	5. Chapter 5: Bagman and Crouch

As they approached Ludo Bagman and Barty Crouch, Harry, Hermione and Christina couldn't help but snicker at their wardrobe. Bagman in a tweed suit and thigh-high rain boots and Barty Crouch in a kilt and poncho. Mr. Weasley greeted them and handed in the Portkey, as The Weasleys and Diggorys received their lodging locations, Cedric walked up to Christina who was behind Harry, Hermione, and Ron.

"I'm sorry about that earlier, my Dad can be-" but Christina interrupted him, "Don't worry about it. But just know next game Gryffindor and Hufflepuff have together I'm sending the dementors after you" she laughed but Cedric was still embarrassed and awkwardly laughed along with her. Then the group trekked along to find their campsites. It was about a twenty minute walk in cold silence as they trudged along the moor. Finally they reached the Muggle cottage they were to check in at and said goodbye to the Diggorys. Cedric kept his head down as he waved goodbye.

A Muggle man was waiting for Mr. Weasley and once they all arrived they greeted one another. "Morning!" Mr. Weasley said brightly. "Morning" "Would you be Mr. Roberts?" "Aye, I would, and who're you?" "Weasley - two tents, book a couple of days ago?" "Aye, you've got a space up by the wood there. Just the one night?" "That's it" "You'll be paying now, then? asked Mr. Roberts. "Ah - right - certainly -"

Mr. Weasley turned around to Hermione and Harry and asked him to sort out some British pounds for him. "Ah yes, I see the little number on it now ...So this is a five?" "A twenty" Harry said softly so that the Muggle couldn't hear. They exchanged money and left to their campsite. According to Mr. Roberts it had never been this crowded before and then started pointing out all the oddities that wizards possess, big gold coins, odd attire, and then out of nowhere apparated a wizard who shouted "Obliviate!" at Mr. Roberts. His memory had just been wiped clean. Then after Mr. Roberts' eyes came back into focus, he handed Mr. Weasley a map of the campsite and his change in British pounds. The man accompanied the Weasleys, Harry, Hermione and Christina to their campsite and muttered to Mr. Weasley, "Been having a lot fo trouble with him. Needs a Memory Charm ten times a day to keep him happy. And Ludo Bagman's not helping. Trotting around talking about Bludgers and Quaffles at the top of his voice, not a worry about anti-Muggle security Blimey, I'll be glad when this is over. See you later, Arthur." and then he disapparated.

"I thought Mr. Bagman was Head of Magical Games and Sports, he should know better than to talk about Bludgers near Muggles, shouldn't he?" asked Ginny as they passed through the gates to their campsite. "He should, but Ludo's always been a bit...well...lax about security. You couldn't wish for a more enthusiastic head of the sports department though. He played Quidditch for England himself, you know. And he was the best Beater the Wimbourne Wasps ever had. Ginny seemed impressed. Finally they reached their site which had a wooden post that read WEEZLY. They then proceeded to pitch the tent by hand, not as difficult as one would think. They were two shabby two-man tents so once all 8 pegs were in they were able to erect the tents. However it seemed comical to Harry, Hermione and Christina how the other seven of them were to fit in the tents ocnce Bill, Charlie, and Percy arrived.

"We'll be a bit cramped, but I think we'll all squeeze in. Come and have a look." Mr. Weasley shouted from inside the tent. It was as though he was twenty feet away. Christina then ducked in after Ron and Harry and was amazed at the sight inside. It was the size of a studio flat, complete with kitchen, dining room, and three off rooms. The decorating needed some updating but the place as a whole was magnificent. Since there was no water in the tents, Harry, Ron, Hermione and Christina set off across the field to go get some from the tap marked on the map while the rest of them collected wood from a fire, despite the fact that they had a stove. Mr. Weasley wanted to keep this camping trip as authentic as possible.

It was starting to get lighter now, people were crawling out from their tents, trying to be as Muggle like as possible. There were many young children there, playing with slugs and toy broomsticks that rose barely a meter in the air. This bothered Hermione much more than the other three. As they passed more and more tents of wizards playing with matches attempting to cook breakfast they passed into the Ireland part of the map and out came a familiar friend. Seamus Finnigan was calling their names and waving them over to him. They hurried on over to his green tent to see that Dean Thomas was also with him.

"Like the decorations? The Ministry's not too happy?" Seamus remarked. "Ah, why shouldn't we show out colors? You should see what the Bulgarians have got dangling all over their tents. You'll be supporting Ireland, of course?" Seamus' mother said from within the tent. Christina nodded her head immediately but the agreement came slower from the other three. Hermione laughed after they were out of ear-shot, "Like we'd say anything else surrounded by that lot, I wonder what the Bulgarians have got dangling all over their tents?" she said as they looked at the map. They were heading toward the Bulgarian tents anyways. But as they reached the tents they were more bewildered than anything else. Adorned on each of the Bulgarian tents were massive pictures of Viktor Krum.

"Krum" Ron whispered. "What?" Hermione said. "Krum! Viktor Krum, the Bulgarian Seeker!" "He looks really grumpy" Hermione said stiffing a laugh. "Really grumpy? Who cares what he looks like? He's unbelievable. He's really young too. Only just eighteen or something. He's a genius, you wait until tonight, you'll see." Ron said proudly.

As they approached the water spout they joined the line only to overhear a conversation between a defiant man in a Muggle women's nightgown and an exhausted Ministry official just trying to help. Hermione and Christina couldn't contain themselves and left the line momentarily as to not disturb the heated argument. As they headed back to the campsite with the water they saw more and more Hogwarts students along the way. Oliver Wood, who introduced the group to his parents and was just signed to Puddlemere United reserve team. Then Ernie Macmillan, Cho Chang, a girl who Harry couldn't walk straight around, and a couple of students from other schools. It hadn't occurred to Christina that there were other magical schools. Since just being accepted into this world, there was still a lot she did not know.

When they reached the tent George was the first person to greet them. "You've been ages." "Met a few people, you've not got that fire started yet?" Ron said putting down the water. Fred came up to the group and took the heavy saucepan from Christina's hands and kissed her on the cheek, "Dad's having fun with the matches" Fred said. Once Hermione helped out Mr. Weasley with the matches the lot of them waited for the fire to get hot enough to cook anything. In the meantime they watched all the witches and wizards go by in the various assortments of clothing. Once the fire was ready they cooked up eggs and sausages and just in time Bill, Charlie and Percy apparated in front of the two tents. Together they began to eat lunch when Mr. Weasley greeted Mr. Bagman, who was by far and large the most recognizable man in the entire field. "This is my son Percy. He's just started at the Ministry - and this is Fred - no, George, sorry - that's Fred - Bill, Charlie, Ron - my daughter, Ginny and Ron's friends, Hermione Granger, Harry Potter, and Christina Bataskill." Bagman ignored most of the names till it got to Harry and Christina and surveyed his forehead and her right palm.

"Everyone, this is Ludo Bagman, you know who he is, it's thanks to him we've got such good tickets-" but Mr. Bagman ignored the praise and continued on, even asking Mr. Weasley and the older boys if they'd like to gamble as to who will win or score first. Mr. Weasley put a galleon on Ireland to win but Fred and George had more spirit in them, "We'll bet thirty-seven Galleons, fifteen Sickles, three Knuts that Ireland wins - but Viktor Krum gets the Snitch. Oh and we'll throw in a fake wand". Percy looked disgusted, "You don't want to go showing Mr. Bagman rubbish like that" however, Mr. Bagman took the wand and played with it and lo and behold a rubber chicken came out. Mr. Bagman laughed raucously.

"Excellent! I haven't seen one that convincing in years! I'd pay five Galleons for that!" although Arthur attempted to get the boys to back down fromt the bet but Mr. Bagman was quite pleased to take their money. "Don't be a spoilsport, Arthur! They're old enough to know what they want! You reckon Ireland will win but Krum'll get the Snitch? Not a chance, boys, not a chance...I'll give you excellent odds on that one... We'll add five Galleons for the funny wand, then, shall we..." and Bagman added the twins named to a list as they handed over their savings to Mr. Weasley's dismay. Just then Barty Crouch walked up to the group and Percy straightened up and swallowed thickly. "Mr. Crouch! Would you like a cup of tea?" he asked quickly. "Oh. Yes - thank you, Weatherby."

It took everything in Christina's power not to spit out her drink right then and there. Fred and George choked into their own cups and Christina grabbed Fred's arm, squeezing it tightly. She buried her head into his shoulder trying to muffle her laughs. Christina didn't know Percy very well so laughing at him would be rude but she knew the twins very well, and couldn't help but join in on their poking fun at Percy. Christina inhaled deeply and returned back to the conversation, Fred had tears in his eyes from containing his laughter. They men were talking about work again and Christina just tuned them out. Although the difficulties of managing Portkeys from all around the world must be complicated, but she just didn't seem to care.

"What's happening at Hogwarts, Dad?" Fred asked. Christina missed this part of the conversation. "What were they talking about?"

"You'll find out soon enough" Mr. Weasley said grinning from ear to ear. "It's classified information, until such time as the Ministry decides to release it, Mr. Crouch was quite right not to disclose it." Percy said stiffly. Fred just looked at him and laughed,

"Oh shut up, Weatherby."


	6. Chapter 6: The Quidditch World Cup

It was finally time for the match to start. The entire group, led by Mr. Weasley, went down through the forest following a lantern-lit path, along with thousands of other witches and wizards. After about twenty minutes of anxious walking and jittery legs they made it out of the wood and were now gaping at a massive stadium. "Seats a hundred thousand, Ministry task force of five hundred have been working on it all year. Muggle Repelling Chars on every inch of it. Every time Muggles have got anywhere near here all year, they've suddenly remembered urgent appointments and had to dash away again ... bless them." Mr. Weasley said. They made their way up to a Ministry witch who was directing foot traffic and she instructed them to make their way up to the top box. As high up as anyone could go and sit with the Minister as he called the match.

The stadium was covered in gold light and purple velvet, the whole thing was quite glorious. Christina had never seen so many witches and wizards congregated in the same place at once. The opening feast at Hogwarts was probably her biggest spectacle of magic she'd ever seen. As they sat in their seats Harry noticed a familiar fellow, "Dobby?" Harry asked to the small elf. Christina had never met Dobby but she had only heard quite annoying things. Sending a Bludger after Harry in his second year, blocking off Platform 9 3/4...she was confused as to why an elf was there in the first place.

"Did sir just call me Dobby?" a timid voice replied. This house-elf was rather small and barely had a voice at all. Now Ron and Hermione's interests were peaked, they too had never met Dobby. "Sorry, I just thought you were someone I knew." Harry said dropping the subject all together. "But I knows Dobby too, sir! My name is Winky, sir - and you sir - You is surely Harry Potter!" Christina then turned away and looked at Hermione. She didn't want to be recognized along with Harry, she'd rather just stay in the shadows of the top box than have a house-elf pestering her with questions she was sure the elf would ask Harry.

"Yeah I am." Harry said awkwardly. Winky pressed on, "But Dobby talks of you all the time, sir!" "How is he? How's freedom suiting him?" Harry asked earnestly. "Ah, sir, ah sir, meaning no disrespect, sir, but I is not sure you did Dobby a favor, sir, when you is setting him free." Hermione now perked up and was now listening intently. "Why? What's wrong with him?" Harry asked confusedly.

"Freedom is going to Dobby's head, sir. Ideas above his station, sir. Can't get another position, sir."

"Why not?" asked Harry. Then Winky got quiet and came closer to Harry, "He is wanting paying for his work, sir." Harry was taken aback. "Paying? Well - why shouldn't he be paid?" Winky, shocked, buried her hands in her massive face. "House-elves is not paid, sir! No, no, no. I says to Dobby, I says, go find yourself a nice family and settle down, Dobby. He is getting up to all sorts of high jinks, sir, what is unbecoming to a house-elf. You goes racketing around like this, Dobby, I says, and next thing I hear you's up in front of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, like some common goblin." Harry was still confused.

"Well, it's about time he had a bit of fun..." "House-elves is not supposed to have fun, Harry Potter. House-elves does what they is told. I is not liking heights at all, Harry Potter but my master sends me to the Top Box and I comes, sir." "Why's he sent you up here, if he knows you don't like heights?" Harry asked sadly.

"Master - master wants me to save him a seat, Harry Potter. He is very busy. Winky is wishing she is back in master's tent, Harry Potter, but Winky does what she is told. Winky is a good house-elf." More confused than ever, Harry let Winky be and turned his attention back to Christina, Ron, and Hermione. "So that's a house-elf?" Christina asked. "Weird things, aren't they?" Almost immediately Harry replied,

"Dobby was weirder" They then took out their omniculars they purchased before the game and tested them out. They could replay an image before your eyes and make things slow-down as well. Just as the game was about to start the teams' mascots came out to get the audience pumped and ready. Just then Cornelius Fudge, Minister of Magic, entered the Top Box. Percy jumped up from his seat so fast and bowed so low that he broke his glasses and embarrassed as could be, sat down. "My two heroes!" Fudge said as he greeted Christina and Harry, Percy glared from behind them as Fudge shook both of their hands. He then attempted to introduce them to the Bulgarian minister, "Harry Potter and Christina Bataskill, you know, Harry Potter...? Christina Bataskill ... oh come on now, you know who he is ... the kids who survived You-Know-Who ...you do know who he is -" then Christina put her scarred hand on top of Harry's forehead scar and the Bulgarian minister started talking excitedly in Bulgarian and pointing at the lightning bolt both of their scars made.

"Knew we'd get there in the end. I'm no great shakes at languages; I need Barty Crouch for this sort of thing. Ah, I see his house-elf's saving him a seat... Good job too, these Bulgarian blighters have been trying to cadge all the best places...ah, and here's Lucius!" the pit of Christina's stomach filled with dread. Lucius Malfoy had attempted to kill Hagrid's beloved hippogriff last year because of his blessed son, Draco Malfoy. The last person she wanted to see was either of them; and unfortunately she got both of them, and Draco's mother. Mr. Malfoy introduced himself, his son, and his wife to the Minister and the Minister introduced Mr. Malfoy to Mr. Weasley. Mr. Weasley, perhaps the kindest person Christina had ever met, barely could shake his hand, "Good lord, Arthur. What did you have to sell to get seats in the Top Box? Surely your house wouldn't have fetched this much?" Mr. Malfoy said wickedly. It seemed as though everyone overheard except for the Minister who just kept on introducing more people to the Malfoys. But Christina just couldn't help herself from sliding a chair back to in front of Draco's feet, and laughed along with Harry, Hermione, and Ron as his father scolded him for not watching where he was going. Draco spun on his heels and gave Christina a death glare but she could only smile.

"Slimy gits" Ron said as everyone sat down again. Then Mr. Bagman yelled "Sonorus!" and his voice became as loud as though it had a bull-horn attached to it. "Ladies and gentlemen...welcome! Welcome to the final of the four hundred and twenty-second Quidditch World Cup!" the stadium boomed back a wall of cheers and applause, all advertisements had been taken away and now the only thing people could read was BULGARIA: 0 IRELAND: 0. "And now, without futher ado, allow me to introduce...the Bulgarian National Team Mascots!"

Out from the bottom of the field came out a hundred gorgeous women that glowed in the moonlight and all had long blonde wispy hair that surely went past their waist...Mr. Weasley pointed at them and said "Veela!" All the boys seemed to black out for a moment as the women danced. Christina turned around to see Fred with his eyes glazed over and head titled, Harry and Ron looked as though they were about the dive into the field when the veela left. "Harry, what are you doing?" Hermione asked. That seemed to take Harry out of his daze. Christina turned around and snapped in front of Fred's face. His eyes turned to her and he cupped her face and kissed her deeply. She smiled and turned back to the field to see what the Irish were going to follow up with.

"And now, kindly put your wands in the air...for the Irish National Team Mascots!" through the sky came a green and gold orb that circled the stadium and then broke up into smaller bits. Then a rainbow appeared and connected the two teams' goal post, the crowd cheered merrily. Then the rainbow faded away and the orbs met again in the center and burst in a great golden waterfall of sparks. Meanwhile a massive shamrock floated over the stadium that was made of leprechauns holding small green or gold lamps. Then another burst in the air and thousand of gold coins fell down from the sky and Ron picked up a handful.

"There you go, for the Omnioculars! Now you've got to buy me a Christmas present, ha!" Harry took the money Ron owed him and continued to watch the field. The leprechauns landed on the ground and took their spot across from the Bulgarian veela. Then Mr. Bagman introduced the Bulgarian Quidditch Team, there was chaser Ivanova, Keeper Zograf, chaser Levski, beaters Vulchanov and Volkov, and of course, young Seeker Viktor Krum. The excitement on Ron's face could have been confused for admiration, he was quite obsessed with Krum. Then came the Irish Quidditch Team, Connolly, Ryan, chasers Troy and Mullet, Moran, Quigley and their Seeker Lynch. Each player had the same broom as Harry, a firebolt. Christina had a Lunit, a reliable and fast broom but not as speedy as Harry's. But then again, a Chaser doesn't need as much speed as a Seeker does.

"And here, all the way from Egypt, out referee, acclaimed Chairwizard of the International Association of Quidditch, Hassan Mostafa!" a tiny man made his way to the center of the field and released the Quaffle, Bludgers, and Snitch. The game had begun. It was very difficult to follow because of the speed of the players, the quaffle was being passed around so quickly it was hard to tell it was being passed at all. The players had attack formations that Christina had never used nor even seen before, then a loud TROY SCORES! Came booming from Bagman's voice and the score updated, BULGARIA: 0 IRELAND: 10. Another ten minutes of intense playing and Bulgaria still hadn't scored, Ireland now at 30. Now Bulgaria was starting to play dirty, forcing players to scatter and break players down, Ivanova broke through their chain and scored for Bulgaria. Just then both Seekers were soaring down the center of the field at an incredible speed.

"They're going to crash!" Hermioned screamed. She was half right, Krum had pulled up just in time but Lynch smacked down in the field and there wasn't a single person in that stadium who didn't hear it. Thousands of gasps through the audience and Ireland called it's first time out. "Fool! Krum was feinting!" Mr. Weasley said annoyed. Christina knew a Wronski Feint was just a way for Seekers to try and trick the other team's Seeker into hurting themselves or to lose focus. After the medi-wizards fixed Lynch up, the game resumed and Ireland scored another ten goals within the first fifteen minutes in. BULGARIA: 10 IRELAND: 130. In a fit of rage Zograf angrily elbowed the Ireland chaser Mullet and the ref gave a penalty to Ireland but was soon distracted by the veela.

"Look at the referee!" Christina pointed giggling. He was now flexing his arms and was grooming his hair. "Now, we can't have that! Somebody slap the referee!" came Ludo Bagman's massive voice. Just then a medi-wizard rushed on the field and kicked him hard in the leg. He soon regained composure and banished the veela from the field. This only upset the Bulgarian team more and the Beaters were being ruthless and attempted to argue with Mostafa and forfeit the game. Another two penalties for Ireland were rewarded. The veela were now mutinous and started to attack the leprechauns with fire, Mr. Weasley turned to his sons, "And that, boys is why you should never go for looks alone!" Another penalty was given to Ireland as Ministry wizards flooded the field to separate the veela and leprechauns.

The game resumed as quickly as it could and Ireland scored again. Just then a Bludger hit Krum dead in the face and the crowd could not look more displeased. But then, Lynch started darting across the field and Harry was the first to jump up, "He's seen the Snitch! He's seen it! Look at him go!" and then Krum was on his tail and they were neck and neck, again, Hermione shouted "They're going to crash!"

"They're not!" Ron yelled back. But for a second time, Lynch smacked into the ground but this time it was no Wronski Feint. "The Snitch, where's the Snitch?" Charlie yelled over the roars from the crowd.

"He's got it! Krum's got it - it's all over!" Harry shouted. Then everyone's heads looked up to the scoreboard, BULGARIA: 160 IRELAND: 170. Ireland had won the Quidditch World Cup, and Fred and George could not be happier. "He was very brave, wasn't he?" Hermione said in a daze, Christina laughed, "He looks a terrible mess...". Krum's nose was surely broken after the Bludger hit it.

"IRELAND WINS! KRUM GETS THE SNITCH - BUT IRELAND WINS -good lord, I don't think any of us were expecting that!" Bagman shouted over the raucous applause. Fred swooped Christina up in his arms and Mr. Weasley, Bill, and Charlie were all cheering in a circle.

"Get who just made a lot of money?" Fred said so only Christina could hear, and she shook her head laughing and kissed him hard on the lips. "Only you Fred, only you could've have guessed that" she said sweetly and he placed her down. "Congrats George!" but George didn't say anything, he just tackled his brother and Christina laughed and returned to Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Both teams made their way to the Top Box to shake hands with the Minister of Magic and Christina spotted both Krum and Lynch who could not have looked worse. Lynch was round eyed and dazed while Krum was angry and bloodied.

Christina could have swore she heard Ron gasp as Krum walked past.


	7. Chapter 7: The Dark Mark

After Fred and George got their money from Mr. Bagman they all walked back to their tents, dizzy with excitement. Everyone was singing and shouting, despite which team won everyone was filled with such joy. Christina had never seen the likes of it. Since everyone was quite awake Mr. Weasley decided to give everyone a cup of hot cocoa before they went to bed. With that everyone started talking animatedly about the match and argued over which penalties should've been given and what not. Soon, though, Ginny was fast asleep. To this Mr. Weasley sent everyone to bed, Christina, Hermione, and Ginny in the tent next door and all the boys in the other.

Christina was in the bunk above Hermione and fell asleep quickly, giving herself time to dream about the prospect of becoming famous for Quidditch instead of for the death of a mass-murderer. Just then Christina awoke to the people outside yelling and then Mr. Weasley came clambering into their tent. "Ladies, up! Now!" Christina was already awake and could sense something was seriously wrong. She jumped down from the bed and got on a jacket and shoes and rushed outside. She immediately bumped into Fred who clearly was contemplating getting her from the tent himself. He hugged her tightly, "What's happening?" she asked him and he let her go and she looked down the line of tents. People all around her were screaming and running off into the woods just behind her. Most of the fires now had gone out except for a few around her, and there seemed to be a crowd in the distance that was emitting flashes of green light and drunken roars of laughter. The green light illuminated the scene and Christina stepped forward away from Fred to see them, it was a crowd of large hooded men with their wands pointing in the air levitating something.

"What is that they're holding?" Christina said to the group as they watched in horror. More wizards were joining the hooded group and they were demolishing all tents in their way, even setting a few on fire. Then Christina saw what they were levitating, it was Mr. Roberts, the Muggle campsite manager, and three other people who seemed to be his children and wife. The hooded figures were twisting their bodies and mangling them into bizarre shapes for amusement. They undressed the wife and to Christina's horror realized that she was quite conscious of what was happening as she tried to cover herself up. Christina was now angry, she thought of her own adopted parents and imagined how she would feel if it were their bodies up their with hooded men laughing at them...

"That's sick...that is really sick..." Ron said as the child's body went limp as it was being thrown back and forth. Bill, Charlie and Percy then emerged from the tent fully dressed.

"We're going to help the Ministry!" Mr. Weasley yelled over the commotion. "You lot - get into the woods, and stick together. I'll come and fetch you when we've sorted this out!" Bill, Charlie, and Percy were the first ones to sprint into the woods and the rest followed as the men loomed closer. George grabbed onto Ginny and dragged her faster into the woods but Christina realized that someone had to stop these men. Even if that meant just tripped a few of them on solid rocks. Christina then stopped running and moved her hands forward to slant the ground underneath the hooded men to make them fall over. Fred noticed that she wasn't behind him and whipped around and grabbed her by the arm tightly.

"Are you insane? You'll make the family fall" Fred said angrily in her face as he pointed to the family. She didn't even think about the family above, she just thought of stopping the hooded men, she nodded her head and then ran back through the woods. They had lost a bit of space between themselves and Ron, Hermione, and Harry but they soon bumped into Ron who was on the ground in pain and were talking to Draco Malfoy.

"Go fuck yourself, Malfoy" Ron said boldly. Christina was taken aback but quite proud of Ron. "Language, Weasley. Hadn't you better be hurrying along, now? You wouldn't like her spotted, would you" Malfoy said motioning to Hermione. Another blast came their way and a shot of green light past them.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Hermione said. "Granger, they're after Muggles. D'you want to be showing off your knickers in midair? Because if you do, hang around...they're moving this way, and it would give us all a laugh." Draco said with a grin on his slimy face. "Hermione's a witch" Harry snarled.

"Have it your own way, Potter. If you think they can't spot a Mudblood, stay where you are."

"You watch your mouth!" Christina yelled back. But Hermione just shrugged it off, "Never mind, Christina" Fred pulled her back a step for Christina was just about to hex Draco. Another burst of light and more screams came from nearby.

"Scare easily, don't they? I suppose your daddy told you all to hide? What's he up to - trying to rescue the Muggles?"

"Where're your parents? Out there wearing masks, are they?" Harry growled back. Christina laughed and gave Harry a high-five. "Well...if they were, I wouldn't be likely to tell you, would I, Potter?"

"Nice comeback" Christina said laughing still, at that Malfoy sneered and Hermione ushered them away. "Oh come on, let's go and find the others."

"Keep that big bushy head down, Granger" Draco yelled out to them and Christina kept her head forward and shouted back. "God, it must be so lonely having no friends, I can't even imagine what that would be like!" and Hermione pushed Christina forward still "Come on." They ran through the forest looking for George and Ginny but instead stopped short to catch their breath.

"I'll bet you anything his dad is one of that masked lot!" Ron said fervently. "Well, with any luck, the Ministry will catch him! Oh I can't believe this. Where have the others got to? Fred how did you and George split up?" said Hermione.

"This one tried to add pot-holes to the ground beneath the hooded wizard crowd" Fred said referring to Christina. Hermione, who was by far and large the person who disagreed with Christina's natural power using the most, looked at Christina disappointingly.

"Ou est Madame Maxime? Nous l'avons perdue-" Christina recognized the french from her time in grade school in America. "Qui est Madame Maxime?" the girl turned to Christina "Oh...Ogwarts." and the girl ran off looking for 'Madame Maxime'. According to Hermione she was from the Beauxbatons school for Magic, apparently a French school that didn't understand anything but a perfect French accent.

"Ah, no, I don't believe it...I've lost my wand!" Harry stated. "You're kidding!" Ron said and they all began to look around on the ground. The rest of the put their wands in the air to maybe shine a beacon of light that George and Ginny could see. "Maybe it's back in the tent," Ron offered. "Maybe it fell out of our pocket when we were running?" Hermione suggested nervously. "Yeah, maybe..." Just then Winky jumped from out of the woods in distress "There is bad wizards about! People high - high in the air! Winky is getting out of the way!" she said as she past the group and ran back into the woods.

"What's up with her?" Ron said in reference to Winky. "Bet she didn't ask permission to hide" Harry said. Hermione then spoke up as though she had been battling with saying something for hours, "You know, house-elves get a very raw deal! It's slavery, that's hat it is! That Mr. Crouch made her go up to the top of the stadium, and she was terrified, and he's got her bewitched so she can't even run when they start trampling tents! Why doesn't anyone do something about it?"

"Go ahead Hermione, you can lead the charges" Christina said half-joking. "Well, the elves are happy, aren't they? You heard old Winky back at the match... 'House-elves is not supposed to have fun'... that's what she likes being bossed around..." Christina breathed deeply, knowing that Ron's somewhat ignorant comment was going to send Hermione in a tail-spin.

"It's people like you, Ron, who prop up rotten and unjust systems, just because they're too lazy to-"then another bang came from behind them.

"Let's just jeep moving, shall we?" Fred suggested. They all kept on moving through the area while Harry looked for his wand although it seemed hopeless at this point. They made their way to an opening and waited for George and Ginny to find them, but Ludo Bagman spotted them first. "What are you doing here, all alone?" Mr. Bagman said suspiciously. The group looked at one another surprised.

"Well - there's a sort of riot going on" Ron replied. It seemed as though Mr. Bagman was just as confused as they were. "What?" "At the campsite...some people have got hold of a family of Muggles" "Fuck!" Mr. Bagman said loudly. "Damn them!" and then he Disapparated. They group sat down on the grass and waited again, the sounds from the campground seemed to have died down. It was while the group was talking about the prospect of the Ministry finding Lucius Malfoy and sending him to Azkaban when there was a rustle in the trees around them.

"Hello?" called Harry. Then, silence. Christina tried to pull Harry's hand down so that he would sit but he peered around the area. "Who's there?" and then out from the corner of her eye she saw a tall man yell out a spell

"MORSMORDRE!" and then in the sky the clouds got together and a massive skull formed. Christina thought it was a joke at first, mock-fireworks but then a large snake came out of the skull's mouth in a black of green smoke. Hermione recognized it first and snatched Harry back from searching for the man

"Harry, come on move! It's the Dark Mark, Harry! You-Know-Who's sign!" then she pulled him and Christina got up and followed them away from the area but about twenty wizards Apparated around them with their wands pulled, Harry shouted "DUCK!" and grabbed Hermione and Ron down with him. Fred was already crouching but Christina didn't have time to register what was happening.

"STUPEFY!" "PROTEGO!" All at once the twenty wizards sent a stunning spell Christina's way and she blocked about six of them but the others hit her on the side and she went flying back thirty meters. She hit her shoulder first and then tumbled more. She could feel a massive bruise forming on her arm as the wizards rushed over to her,

"Stop! STOP! Those are my kids!" Christina's eyes did not want to open as she regained her breath on the cold hard ground. She just laid there silently. Fred jumped up from the ground and rushed over to Christina.

"Ron - Harry, Herm-Christina!" Mr. Weasley didn't even notice Christina had flown several feet and was now crumpled on the ground. He rushed over to her aid but was stopped by Mr. Crouch. "Out of the way, Arthur." Fred got down on the ground, "Christina? Are you alright?" he shook her shoulder and she exclaimed in pain. "I'm sorry, here, let me-" "Fred. Stop." she breathed out. Her eyes fluttered open and she saw Mr. Crouch stomping his way to the two of them.

"Was it either of you!?" Mr. Crouch accused. Christina's head was still spinning so she just rested her head back down. "We didn't do that!" said Fred. Mr. Weasley stepped forward, "Where did the Mark come from, you lot?" Fred then bent down and propped Christina up on his knees. "Can you walk? Don't use your powers" Christina was now more aware of her surroundings and sat on Fred's legs and pushed herself up. There was something definitely wrong with her shoulder but Fred helped her walk back to the group. Christina could see there were wizards now holding a limp body in their arms and were showing it to Mr. Crouch. Had someone died? As they rejoined the group Christina noticed that it was Winky's body, and Mr. Crouch was quite angry.

"This - cannot - be, no." he then tried to head towards the forest where Winky would've been found. "No point, Mr. Crouch, there's no one else there." Mr. Diggory was there too now. "Bit embarrassing. Barty Crouch's house-elf...I mean to say..."

"Come off it, Amos, you don't seriously think it was the elf? The Dark Mark's a wizard's sign. It requires a wand." Mr. Weasley said quietly while Mr. Crouch composed himself. "Yeah, and she had a wand" Mr. Diggory said slowly. "What?" "Here, look" and Mr. Diggory showed Mr. Weasley the wand, "Had it in her hand. So that's clause three of the Code of Wand Use broke, for a start. No non-human creature is permitted to carry or use a wand" Christina pointed at the wand. "That's Harry's!"

Harry hadn't been paying attention and then recognized the wand as well. "Hey - that's mine!" "Excuse me?" Mr. Diggory said. "That's my wand! I dropped it!" "You dropped it? Is this a confession? You threw it aside after you conjured the Mark?" Mr. Diggory said pointedly.

"Amos, think who you're talking to! Is Harry Potter likely to conjure the Dark Mark?" Mr. Weasley said angrily. "Er - of course not, sorry...carried away.."

"I didn't drop it there, anyway. I missed it right after we got into the wood" Harry said, now Winky was looking even more frightened and Christina was now leaning on Fred's arm more and more as the conversation bore on.

"So, you found this wand, eg, elf? And you picked it up and thought you'd have some fun with it, did you?" Mr. Diggory accused.

"I is not doing magic with it, sir! I is...I is...I is just picking it up, sir! I is not making the Dark Mark, sir, I is not knowing how!" Winky pleaded. She was now sniffling and crying heavily. Hermione stepped forward, "It wasn't her! Winky's got a squeaky little voice, and the voice we heard doing the incantation was much deeper! It didn't sound anything like Winky, did it?" all four of them shook their heads. "No. It definitely didn't sound like an elf." Harry said.

"Yeah, it was a human voice" said Ron. "Well, we'll soon see. There's a simple way of discovering the last spell a wand performed, elf, did you know that?" Winky was now trembling with fear, shaking. "Prio Incantato!" Mr. Diggory yelled. And the ghost of the spell came out, a small green skull with a snake coming from it's mouth.

"Deletrius!" and the spell was gone. Winky was now even more scared than before. "I is not doing it! I is not, I is not, I is not knowing how! I is a good elf, I isn't using wands, I isn't knowing how!"

"You've been caught red-handed, elf! Caught with the guilty wand in your hand!"

"Amos, think about it...previous few wizards know how to do that spell...Where would she have learned it?" Mr. Weasley said loudly. Mr. Crouch returned to the interrogation.

"Perhaps Amos is suggesting that I routinely teach my servants to conjure the Dark Mark?" and then whole group went silent. Mr. Diggory the most shocked of all, "Mr. Crouch...not...not at all"

"You have now come very close to accusing the two people in this clearing who are least likely to conjure that Mark! Harry Potter - and myself. I suppose you are familiar with the boy's story, Amos?" Mr. Crouch continued hotly. "Of course- everyone knows-"

"And I trust you remember the many proofs I have given, oer a long career, that I despise and detest the Dark Arts and those who practice them?" Mr. Crouch was livid. "Mr. Crouch, I - I never suggested you had anything to do with it!"

"If you accuse my elf, you accuse me, Diggory! Where else would she have learned to conjure it?" "She - she might'e picked it up anywhere -" Mr. Diggory was scrambling for answers. "Precisely, Amos. She might have picked it up anywhere...Winky? Where exactly did you find Harry's wand?"

It went on back on forth like this for a while. Winky found Harry's wand in the woods and Mr. Crouch tried to defend her but then said he would punish her...Winky sobbing at Mr. Crouch's feet in fear. It was all quite awful. Mr. Diggory got told off and Winky would be given clothes as punishment. Christina could feel the anger bubbling from within Hermione. Christina shoulder throbbing started to dull down but her head felt even lighter than before. Harry got his wand back and the group left the clearing and Christina planned on taking a step forward but her brain forgot to tell her feet, and she fell forward and everything went black.


	8. Chapter 8: En Route

Christina awoke a few hours later to the hustle and bustle of Mr. Weasley taking down the tent next door. She tried to get up but noticed a large wooden pole was across her chest and another was running the length of her hurt arm and back making a weird L at her shoulder. She got up off the bed stiffly and her murmuring outside her tent, Hermione and Ginny were gone. "She just got stunned by a group of Ministry officials I think she's earned her sleep..." she could over hear Ron say, "Fred would you please-" "I'm awake!" Christina shouted from inside the tent. Fred, George, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny all came in at once and were quite happy to see her awake.

"How're you feeling?" Hermione asked brightly. Christina still attempting to get up without breaking the faux-brace said "I'm definitely feeling better...I just can't seem to...get up!" Fred rushed over as Mr. Weasley walked in. "Christina! Good to see you up, sorry I couldn't patch you up properly. Mrs. Weasley is much better at that, she can sort you out once we get back to the Burrow" he said as Fred got her up and off the bunk-bed. Harry collected Christina's napsack and they took down the tent as quickly as Christina could get out of it. There was rush to get out of there, they even paced past The Roberts who had their memory changed. "Merry Christmas." Mr. Roberts said as he waved to the Weasleys. "He'll be all right, somtimes, when a person's memory's modified, it makes him a bit disorientated for a while...and that was a big thing they had to make him forget." Mr. Weasley told the group. Christina walked as quickly as she could up the hill to the Portkey but the task of moving her legs quickly while keeping her upper body perfectly straight turned out to be more difficult than anticipated. But they eventually made their way back to the Burrow to a worried Mrs. Weasley.

"Oh thank goodness, thank goodness!" she ran toward Mr. Weasley and they embraced as a copy of The Daily Prophet fell on the ground: SCENES OF TERROR AT THE QUIDDITCH WORLD CUP, adorning a picture of the Mark. "Are all of you-Christina! What happened?" Christina smiled. "Fell over"

"She got attacked by the Ministry!" Ron yelled out. "Now, Ron, she wasn't attacked, merely in the cross-fire of several Ministry officials fire" Mr. Weasley corrected.

"What!" Mrs. Weasley cried out. "I got hit by a few stupefy-stuns and fell back on my shoulder" Mrs. Weasley understood what happened but was now looking at her, brace of sorts. "Let me fix you up, dear." Mrs. Weasley took Christina inside and the others followed. As Mrs. Weasley detached the wooden planks from Christina's body Mr. Weasley was appalled at the newspaper article about the event.

"Ministry blunders...culprits not apprehended...lax security...Dark wizards running unchecked...national disgrace...Who wrote this? Ah...of course...Rita Skeeter." "That woman's got it in for the Ministry of Magic!" Perch roared. "Last week she was saying we're wasting our time quibbling about cauldron tickness, when we should be stamping out vampires! As if it wasn't specifically stated in paragraph twelve of the Guidelines for the Treatment of Non-Wizard Part-Humans-"

"Do us a favor, Perce, and shut up" Bill said tiredly. Mrs. Weasley called Harry over to Christina's arm "Harry, dear, do me a favor and hold up her shoulder for me, - just - yes that's right. Okay now hold still." Christina watched Mrs. Weasley as she held her wand to Christina's shoulder and twisted it. And just like that Christina's shoulder snapped back into place and she cried out in pain. But as she moved her shoulder it seemed to be all fixed, "I know, I know, hurts at first, but now you're all better. You wouldn't believe the amount of times Fred and George-"

"I'm mentioned" Mr. Weasley said eyeing the paper. "Where? If I'd seen that, I'd have known you were alive!" Mrs. Weasley said hastily. Mr. Weasley then read out a lengthy paragraph of false information written by Rita Skeeter and he made the decision to forget his holiday and go into the office with Percy. Mrs. Weasley was upset but understood.

"Mrs. Weasley, Hedwig hasn't arrived with a letter for me, has she?" but Mrs. Weasley was still quite distracted, "Hedwig, dear? No...no, there hasn't been any post at all." Ron, Hermione and Christina looked worriedly at Harry. How long had it been since he heard from Sirius?

"All right if I go and dump my stuff in your room, Ron?"

"Yeah...think I will to" Ron said. "Hermione, Christina?" both girls nodded and followed Ron upstairs, eager to see what was on Harry's mind.

"What's up, Harry?" Ron asked.

"The night before we left for the World Cup, Christina and I realized something." Christina was confused, what was he referring to?

"A weekend ago, I woke up with my scar hurting again. And apparently so did Christina." Harry said to the group. Christina, now remembering, mouthed an 'oh' and Hermione and Ron gasped assuming the worst.

"But - he wasn't there, was he? You-Know-Who? I mean - he couldn't have been at both of your places but, Harry, last time your scar kept hurting, he was at Hogwarts, wasn't he?" Hermione asked. Harry scoffed.

"I'm sure he wasn't on Privet Drive, but we were dreaming about him, we had the exact same dream - I mean we described the exact same dream at dinner the other night. Him and Peter - you know, Wormtail." Harry said and Christina joined in "I can't remember all of it now, but they were plotting to kill...someone." she wasn't sure whether or not Harry would've liked Hermione and Ron to know they were marked for death. She was sure that would send them only spiraling more.

"It was only a dream. Just a nightmare" Ron said, trying to convince himself of it as well. Christina wasn't convinced, "Yeah, but was it, though? It's weird, isn't it? Both of our scars hurt and then days later men in hoods-"

"Death Eaters" Hermione corrected. Christina continued, "Death Eaters show up and Voldemort's sign's up in the sky again?"

"Don't - say - his - name!" Ron hissed angrily. She had forgotten how some people feared the name. But Harry pressed on, "And remember what Professor Trelawney said? At the end of last year?" Hermione let out a sneer, "Oh Harry, you aren't going to pay attention to anything that old fraud says?"

"You weren't there, you didn't hear her. This time was different. I told you, she went into a trance - a real one. And she said the Dark Lord would rise again...greater and more terrible than ever before...and he'd manage it because his servant was going to go back to him ... ad that night Wormtail escaped." everyone was silent. Christina didn't particularly want to take the word of a fake Seer but Harry seemed convinced and that was good enough for her.

"Why were you asking if Hedwig had come, Harry? Are you expecting a letter?" Hermione asked. "Didn't you just write to Sirius?" Christina asked. "I told Sirius about my scar, I'm waiting for his answer."

"Good thinking! I bet Sirius'll know what to do!" Ron said earnestly. "I hoped he'd get back to me quickly" Harry said looking down. "But we don't know where Sirius is...he could be in Africa or somewhere, couldn't he? Hedwig's not going to manage that journey in a few days" Hermione said logically. Ron then jumped up from his bed,

"Come and have a game of Quidditch in the orchard, Harry. Come on - four on four, Bill, Charlie, Fred, George and Ginny will play ... Christina, you'll play? You can try the Wronski Feint..." Christina smiled to herself, this was Ron at his finest. Hermione could logic her way out of any conflict but Ron was the best at finding a way to ignore it all together and make Harry feel better in the process. Hermione protested, "Ron, Harry doesn't want to play Quidditch right now... He's worried, and he's tired. Christina just got her shoulder mended. We all need to go to bed..."

"Yeah, I want to play Quidditch. Hang on, I'll get my Firebolt." Harry said as he went to his trunk. Christina turned to Hermione and shrugged to the best of her ability. "I guess we're playing Quidditch then" and Hermione turned on her heel and left.

Throughout the week they didn't see much of Mr. Weasley nor Percy. Apparently the Ministry was in shambles after the World Cup and Percy's desk was coated in scorched parchments and quills from all the exploded Howlers he's been receiving. The week wasn't wasted however, Christina had the pleasure of feeding some garden gnomes some of Fred and George hidden stash of crazy sweets. She had no idea they were such chefs when it came to joke candy. They were all in the living room the Sunday before school started when Mrs. Weasley caught Fred and George attempting to make another Weasley's Wizard Wheezes order form.

"What are you two up to?" asked Mrs. Weasley. Harry looked up in amusement from his broom, he had been polishing it now with a birthday cleaning kit from Hermione.

"Homework" Fred said without looking up. Christina turned away from her sewing and gave him a funny look. He just winked back.

"Don't be ridiculous, you're still on holiday." said Mrs. Weasley. "Yeah, we've left it a bit late" George replied, again without looking up.

"You're not by any chance writing out a new order form, are you?" Hermione peered up from her Standard Book of Spells, Grade 4 copy to watch Fred and George get told off again. "You wouldn't be thinking of restarting Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, by any chance?"

"Now, Mum. If the Hogwarts Express crashed tomorrow, and George and I died, how would you feel to know that the last thing we ever heard from you was an unfounded accusation?" to this everyone laughed, even Mrs. Weasley. Just then she jumped and rushed to the kitchen, "Coming, Arthur!" Mr. Weasley looked exhausted, he has spent the entire week dealing with Rita Skeeter and her finding out about the disappearance of Bertha Jorkins only made his job more difficult.

"Crouch is very lucky Rita hasn't found out about Winky. There'd be a week's worth of headlines in his house-elf being caught holding the wand that conjured the Dark Mark" Mr. Weasley said irritably. "I thought we were all agreed that that elf, while irresponsible, did not conjure the Mark?" Percy said angrily.

"If you ask me, Mr. Crouch is very lucky no one at the Daily Propher knows how mean he is to elves!" Hermione said hotly, although no one took her seriously. "Now look here, Hermione! A high-ranking Ministry official like Mr. Crouch deserves unswerving obedience from his servants -" Percy argued. "His slave, you mean! Because he didn't pay Winky, did he?" Hermione retorted. Mrs. Weasley stepped between the two, "I think you'd all better go upstairs and check that you've packed properly! Come on now, all of you..." Hermione and Christina went into their room and Hermione went out into a full on rant.

"I mean it's just so cruel what they do to these poor creatures! ... No respect, none whatsoever. You're right Christina, someone should do something, and if it has to be me then it has to be me...People start loads of things like this while they're in school...The nerve!" Christina flickered in and out of the conversation and laid on her bed wondering what this school year had in store for her. She then levitated a small rocks and played with it above her head as she frequently did when she was bored. It swirled around in an infinity sign as Hermione continued pacing the room back and forth thinking of names for her Help-The-Elves Association, but puffed out her cheeks when realizing that HTEA is a terrible acronym. Christina left her bed and went to go downstairs to see what the twins were up to but was stopped by Mrs. Weasley.

"Missing something, dear?"

"Er - yes. No, well, just making sure I didn't leave any of my sewing down here..." she stammered. Mrs. Weasley smiled an all too knowing smile, "No, I think you got it all. Up to bed!" Christina smiled and headed upstairs and stopped on the twins floor.

"One more floor up, dear!" Mrs. Weasley called from the bottom landing. Christina laughed to herself and continued climbing the stairs and hopped into bed. A wide grin plastered to her face.


	9. Chapter 9: To Hogwarts

September couldn't come fast enough for Christina who longed nothing more than to run around the castle breaking as many rules as she could. She woke eagerly the following morning and brought her trunk downstairs, the boys were already already at the kitchen table eating. Mrs. Weasley was rushing around the house, apparently Mr. Diggory needed to speak with Mr. Weasley.

"Arthur! Arthur! Urgent message from the Ministry!" she shouted upstairs. Just then Christina noticed Harry who was staring perplexed at the fireplace. Mr. Diggory's face was engulfed in the fireplace flames and was talking quite plainly to Mrs. Weasley, as though his head was not on fire.

"...Muggle neighbors heard bangs and shouting, so they went and called those what-d'you-call-'ems - please-men. Arthur, you've got to get over there-" Mr. Weasley then rushed into the kitchen and Mrs. Weasley thrust parchment and a quill in his hand

"it's a real stroke of luck I heard about it. I had to come into the office early to send a couple of owls, and I found the Improper Use of Magic lot all setting off - if Rita Skeeter gets gold of this one, Arthur" Mr. Diggory warned. "What does Mad-Eye say happened?" Mr. Weasley asked as he wrote all the information down.

"Days he heard an intruder in his yard. Says he was creeping toward the house, but was ambushed by his dustbins"

"What did the dustbins do?" Mr. Weasley asked. "Made one hell of a noise and fired rubbish everywhere, as far as I can tell. Apparently one of them was still rocketing around when the please-men turned up" Mr. Weasley was now frustrated. "And what about the intruder?"

"Arthur, you know Mad-Eye. Someone creeping into his yard in the dead of night? More likely there's a very shell-shocked cat wandering around somewhere, covered in potato peelings. But if the Improper Use of Magic lot get their hands on Mad-Eye, he's had it - think of his record - we've got to get gim off on a minor charge, smething in your department - what are exploding dustbins worth?" Mr. Diggory asked, equally frustrated.

"Might be a caution...Mad-Eye didn't use his wand? He didn't actually attack anyone?"

"I'll bet he leapt out of bed and started jinxing everything he could reach through the window, but they'll have a job proving it, there aren't any casualties." said Mr. Diggory. And at that Mr. Weasley left for the Ministry but not before Mrs. Weasley fed a bit of toast to a hungry Diggory head.

"Did someone say Mad-Eye? What's he been up to now?" a yawning Bill asked. "He says someone tried to break into his house last night" said Mrs. Weasley. George started spreading jam on his toast "Mad-Eye Moody? Isn't he that nutter-"

"Your father thinks very highly of Mad-Eye Moody" Mrs. Weasley said quickly. "Yeah, well, Dad collects plugs, doesn't he? Birds of a feather..." and to this Christina playfully hit him on the arm and he laughed.

"Moody was a great wizard in his time" Bill added. "He's an old friend of Dumbledore's, isn't he?" Charlie asked. "Dumbledore's not what you'd call normal, though, is he? I mean I know he's a genius and everything..." Fred said warily. Christina looked to the older boys, "Who is Mad-Eye?"

"He's retired, used to work at the Ministry. I met him once when Dad took me into work with him. He was an Auror - one of the best...a Dark wizard catcher. Half the cells in Azkaban are full because of him. He made himself loads of enemies, though...the families of people he caught, mainly...and I heard he's been getting really paranoid in his old age. Doesn't trust anyone anymore. Sees Dark wizards everywhere" Charlie explained.

Christina shrugged and finished her toast without another word. Soon after breakfast they all left for King's Cross Station, except, of course, Percy who was too busy with Ministry work. "I just ca't justify taking more time off at the moment. Mr. Crouch is really starting to rely on me." George laughed. "Yeah, you know what, Percy? I reckon he'll know your name soon." They laughed and jumped into a few Muggle taxis. The poor taxi driver had to endure twenty minutes of Fred's fireworks, Hermione's cat, and Ron's owl as they braved their way through London. When they reached the station they all jumped out quickly, trying to duck out of the way of the driver as well as the pouring rain outside. They quickly ducked into the station with their birds and trunks.

Christina didn't love the bizarre out of body feeling she got every time she crossed over from the station to Platform 9 3/4 but she understood it was a necessary evil. Harry, Ron, and Hermione went first, pretending to be talking against the barrier and then they fell on through. Fred, George and Christina just walked along while Christina closed her eyes. She still received chills when she opened her eyes on the other side and saw the massive black and red steaming train in front of her. Behind Christina, Fred, and George came Ginny, Bill, Charlie and Mrs. Weasley. The students all put their trunks on the train and hopped back off to say goodbye.

"I might be seeing you all sooner than you think" Charlie said as he hugged Ginny goodbye, "Why?" Fred asked. "You'll see. Just don't tell Percy I mentioned it...it's 'classified information, until such time as the Ministry sees fit to release it' after all." Christina smiled and hugged Charlie and Bill goodbye. "Well if you do come and visit, I'll be excited!" Christina said brightly.

"Me too. I sort of wish I were back at Hogwarts this year" Bill said slowly, hinting at something massive. "Why?" said George impatiently. "You're going to have an interesting year, I might even get time off to come and watch a bit of it."

"A bit of what!" Ron asked. But then the whistle blew and they were all ushered onto the train. Hermione hugged Mrs. Weasley goodbye, "Thanks for having us to stay, Mrs. Weasley" Christina and Harry mimed her sincerity and hugged her goodbye. "Yeah, thanks for everything, Mrs. Weasley" said Harry. She beamed at them, "Oh it was my pleasure, dears. I'd invite you for Christmas, but...well, I expect you're all going to want to stay at Hogwarts, what with... one things and another." Mrs. Weasley said with a smirk on her face. Ron was now getting irritated

"Mum! What d'you three know that we don't?" ?" "You'll find out this evening, I expect, It's going to be very exciting – mind you, I'm very glad they've changed the rules –" Mrs. Weasley went on. "What rules?" everyone asked impatiently.

"I'm sure Professor Dumbledore will tell you … Now, behave, won't you? Won't you, Fred? And you, George?" Christina smirked at this as the train started to leave. The Weasleys waved at them goodbye but Fred still had his head out the window begging for answers. "Tell us what's happening at Hogwarts!" Fred yelled. "What rules are they changing?" But they just smiled and waved and once they were no longer in view Fred stuck his head back in the train and closed the window.

The rain was coming down heavy now and Ginny left the compartment to sit with her friends. Ron began talking about what was happening but Hermione shushed him quickly as she pressed her ear to the compartment wall. Everyone tuned in. "…Father actually considered sending me to Durmstrang rather than Hogwarts, you know. He knows the headmaster, you see. Well, you know his opinion of Dumbledore – the man's such a Mudblood-lover – and Durmstrang doesn't admit that sort of riffraff. But Mother didn't like the idea of me going to school so far away. Father says Durmstrang takes a far more sensible line than Hogwarts about the Dark Arts. Durmstrang students actually learn them, not just the defense rubbish we do…" after Christina heard the word Mudblood she knew it was Draco Malfoy in the compartment next door. Hermione shut the door to attempt to block out the noise but a faint sneer could still be heard.

The train ride wasn't too bad, usually Christina gets quite bored, but with the excitement of what was to be happening at Hogwarts this hear the conversation never teetered. Every now and then classmates of theirs would walk by and talk about each other's summers, Seamus still beaming with pride about the win for Ireland. Neville however didn't have a great summer, another one spent indoors with his elderly grandmother. Hermione, however, didn't partake in the Quidditch conversation and began learning this year's charms. Ron, yet again, got caught up in the subject of Viktor Krum.

"We saw him right up close, as well. We were in the Top Box-"

"For the first and last time in your life, Weasley." Draco Malfoy now stood in the compartment doorway.

"Oh hey Malfoy, how's it going?" Christina asked sarcastically. Christina and Fred made it a point to kill Malfoy with kindness because not only was it hilarious to watch him squirm under the gestures, but if anyone were to hear their conversation it would look like Malfoy was completely in the wrong. However, Draco ignored her question. "Weasley...what is that?" Ron had his trunk open and a robe was at the corner of it, dark maroon and lace. Christina too wondered why Ron had it. Although before he could close his trunk to hide it, Malfoy grabbed it quickly.

"Look at this! Weasley, you weren't thinking of wearing these, were you? I mean - they were very fashionable in about eighteen ninety.." Malfoy was now holding up the robe for everyone to see, Crabbe and Goyle were laughing like buffoons. "Eat dung, Malfoy!" Ron shouted and snatched them from his vice like grip.

"So...going to enter, Weasley? Going to try and bring a bit of glory to the family name? There's money involved as well, you know...you'd be able to afford some decent robes if you won..." Draco crooned. "What are you talking about" Ron said angrily. "Are you going to enter. I suppose you too will enter" referring to Christina and Harry. "Can't imagine you missing a chance to show off" Christina wished she could find a clever retort but she was at a loss for what he was going on about. Hermione didn't understand either,

"Either explain what you're on about or go away, Malfoy." Hermione said annoyed. But Draco was now in ecstasy over the fact that he knew something they didn't. "Don't tell me you don't know? You've got a father and brother at the Ministry and you don't even know? My God, my father told me about it ages ago...heard it from Cornelius Fudge. But then, Father's always associated with the top people at the Ministry...Maybe your father's too junior to know about it, Weasley...yes...they probably don't talk about important stuff in front of him..." Christina turned to Harry.

"Gosh, what a cool job your dad has, I wish I could work at the Ministry." Harry smiled and agreed. "Tough to get into too" Harry said. Draco laughed although he was confused.

"Yes, they don't just let anyone in you know." Draco replied. "Well except for Arthur Weasley of course" Christina replied with a smirk. "A tragic mistake on the Ministry's part, no doubt." Draco said nastily.

"No doubt, oh and that dirty Mudblood Bones too right? Another mistake?" "Of course! The Ministry makes mistakes all the time!" Draco quickly said.

"They do?" she turned to Harry. "Maybe I don't want to work there after all, oh well, good day Drahco" she said purposely pronouncing his name wrong. He gawked at Christina and then turned on his heel and stomped off. Once they were gone they all laughed and watched Hogwarts materialize before their eyes. Home.


End file.
